Microsoft blasts Sony's 'outdated' Home service

"It feels like 2005 tech in 2008," says Microsoft exec

The relevance of Sony's much-delayed PlayStation Home service has been put into question by Microsoft.

Discussing the service with gaming website Kotaku, Aaron Greenberg of Microsoft, spoke about Home and how it feels a tad outdated.

"What Home to me feels like is Second Life for hardcore gamers. It doesn't feel like it broadens the experience and invites people in," said Greenberg.

"When they unveiled it, it seemed innovative. I think what's happened is now here we are a couple of years later and we feel beyond that.

"It feels like 2005 tech in 2008. I'm not sure that's what people want."

Wrong to compete with Second Life

While remarks like this from Microsoft are to expected, considering the company is in direct rivalry with Sony for videogame console supremacy, the thoughts are echoed by that of EA founder Trip Hawkins who recently stated that: "I can't tell whether they're going more towards this mass market idea - the way I'm describing this 'omni-market' - or if they're being lured into essentially trying to compete with Warcraft or Second Life.

"My own personal opinion is: if Sony makes Home feel too much like a [World of] Warcraft environment, they're just never going to create the kind of audience size that you're going to see Nintendo and Microsoft create."